Big call, poor returns: Arjun Tendulkar's opening move backfires in Vijay Hazare Trophy

NEW DELHI: Goa’s experiment of promoting all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, to open the innings has failed to yield results in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.


Arjun opened the innings for the third consecutive match and once again failed to make an impact with the bat. Opening against Punjab, he faced eight deliveries and scored just one run before being dismissed by Sukhdeep Bajwa.



Earlier in the tournament, Arjun opened the innings for the first time against Mumbai and managed 24 runs, before following it up with scores of 8 against Uttarakhand and 19 against Sikkim.

Arjun Tendulkar’s last four matches:

Recently, Yograj Singh, father of former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, claimed that Arjun is being coached incorrectly.

Yograj said that while significant emphasis has been placed on Arjun’s bowling, the 25-year-old is, in fact, a proper batter. During a recent interaction, Yograj revealed details of his conversation with Arjun, alleging that the all-rounder did not get enough opportunities to bat before attending a camp at his academy.

The 67-year-old added that after spending around a week batting at his academy, Arjun went on to score a century on his Ranji Trophy debut.

"They are focusing on his bowling; I don't know what is wrong with the coaches. Basically, he is a batter. When he came to my academy for a camp, I was asked to take care of him. One day, he was hit by a ball and I took him to the hospital. He was fine after that. I told him to put on his pads, but he said that they don't give him the chance to bat," Yograj said on Ravishh Bisht's YouTube channel.

Yograj also revealed that he had requested Arjun’s former Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Mumbai Indians, to allow him to open the innings in a few matches, but the request was turned down.

"I told him that I had never seen him bat, so we went to the indoor nets. He was on fire, hitting balls all across the park. I asked his coach, 'Why don't you give him the chance to bat?' but he was making excuses. I also told him that he is a proper batter and he plays like his father. So, Arjun batted at my academy for a week and went on to score a hundred in the Ranji Trophy days later. Even when he was playing for Mumbai Indians, I had asked the management to make him open for a few games, but they didn't listen," he added.


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